The Thunder’s Ryan Smith and Kevin O’Neil scored back-to-back goals during a 34-second span in the dying minutes before an announced crowd of 6,500-plus. Smith was the player who

NORFOLK, Va. — Fresh off their first playoff appearance in a decade, the Norfolk Admirals start off their season on Friday. They'll take on Adirondack. It's the same team that knocked them out of the playoffs back in the spring. The two game set starts at 7:05pm for both games. Players were happy to be back on the ice.

The Norfolk Admirals lost 2-1 to Adirondack Thunder during their season-opening game at Scope Arena on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. The Admirals lead for a majority of the matchup 1-0 until allowing the Thunder to score two in the final three minutes of play.

The Thunder completed an ECHL season-opening two-game series sweep Saturday night, beating the Admirals 6-3 before 4,004 at Scope. The loss was all too familiar for coach Jeff Carr’s Admirals, who have many returnees from last year’s squad.